David Strathairn takes solo turn in ACT's 'Lintel'

THERE'S SOMETHING about those Redwood High School graduates that drives them to public scrutiny — author Anne Lamott, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, pro football coach Pete Carroll and funnyman Robin Williams among them.

Perhaps less animated and less prone to attracting the hoopla of celebrity is David Strathairn, a name that may scratch a lot of heads but whose body of work in the past 20 years rivals most actors.

Even with a slew of stellar work that includes his Oscar-nominated performance in "Good Night, and Good Luck," the San Francisco native never had to hire his own security guard, wear disguises or fret about getting inundated with autograph seekers.

Strathairn merely goes about his business, be it "Lincoln," "The Bourne Ultimatum," "A League of Their Own" or TV's "The Sopranos," "House," "Monk" or "Alphas."

So the transition from common guy to celebrity hasn't been that hard — even when someone comments online, "Why is this person in every movie I watch?"

"That person's not watching very many movies," he says with a laugh.

It's late during a recent afternoon and Strathairn's just finished the day's rehearsal for his latest project: "Underneath the Lintel," a play by Glen Berger, running through Nov. 17 by the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.

The Carey Perloff-directed production is a superlative piece, says Strathairn, grateful for the opportunity as the sole character. The story of the eccentric librarian tracing the origin of a book 113 years overdue is a role that has Strathairn salivating.

"I've always been just charmed by the story without even thinking that this is something I'd actually be doing," Strathairn says by phone from Perloff's office. "I was engaged from the get-go. The writing is beautiful storytelling."

The theme is not only a journey of discovering who the book belonged to, he says. "It becomes a journey of self-discovery for the librarian, and discovery and the continued awakening of the human condition."